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WASHINGTON -- The Senate worked through the night and past sunrise Saturday on Democrats' showpiece US$1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill after a deal between leaders and moderate Sen. Joe Manchin on emergency jobless benefits broke a logjam that had stalled the package. Source

OTTAWA -- A newly released audit report shows that difficulties with the judicial warrant process at Canada's spy agency -- an issue that made headlines last summer -- stretch back at least nine years. Internal reviewers found several of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's preparatory steps for the execution of warrant powers needed strengthening. Source

TORONTO -- Nine months after the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in North America, births in Quebec and British Columbia fell far below normal levels, statistics show. December, 2020 saw 3,185 babies born in B.C.; on average, the province has had 3,526 births in December between 2020 and 2019. Source

Pope Francis and Iraq's top Shia cleric delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence Saturday, urging Muslims in the war-weary Arab nation to embrace Iraq's long-beleaguered Christian minority during an historic meeting in the holy city of Najaf. Source

A woman who says she is the direct descendant of a man and woman pictured in some of the earliest known photographs of enslaved people does not have a property interest in the images, now owned by Harvard University, a Massachusetts judge ruled Tuesday. Source

California is dangling a multibillion dollar carrot in an effort to lure its teachers back into the classroom, while Oregon's governor on Friday said all K-12 public schools will soon be required to provide in-person leaning; marking the latest efforts by U.S. Source

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- California on Friday lifted some coronavirus restrictions on outdoor sports and entertainment venues, clearing the way for fans to attend games on Major League Baseball's opening day and for theme parks like Disneyland to reopen for the first time in more than a year. Source

Though thousands are still under boil water advisories, about 5,000 water customers in Jackson, Mississippi, don't have any service, a decline from earlier this week. Charles Williams, public works director in Jackson, said in a news conference Friday that there have been improvements in water restoration in the city, estimating that "less than possibly 5,000 customers" are still without water. Source

MIAMI, FLA. -- Three Venezuelan men pleaded guilty to helping organize an ill-conceived invasion last year to remove President Nicolas Maduro. In Friday's hearing before a Colombian court, the men acknowledged their role alongside Jordan Goudreau, a former American Green Beret and Iraq war veteran, in organizing a rag tag army of a few dozen Venezuelan military deserters intent on overthrowing Venezuela's socialist leadership. Source

NASA's newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 6.5 metres on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after landing on the Red Planet to seek signs of past life. Source